Yoshihiro Maruo

The tragic story of Gonza, a handsome ladies man, set in the Tokugawa Period, a time in which appearances are very important. Gonza competes with Bannojō for the honor to perform the tea ceremony to celebrate the birth of an heir to the lord of their clan. To see the sacred tea scrolls Gonza promises to marry the daughter of the family which possesses them, even though he is unofficially engaged to another. When studying the scrolls with Osai, the mother of the house, Bannojō sneaks into the house and steals their obis and runs through the town proclaiming the two as adulterers.

On the Kōshū Kaidō road, merchant Sōjirō is poisoned, robbed, and pushed off a cliff by former courtesan Okuma and her lover. A year later, a fugitive named Shinsuke, on the run after killing his wife, encounters a sinister, heavily made-up man. He soon realizes this man is the vengeful spirit of Sōjirō…

Iemon Fukasawa, a masterless samurai, marries Oiwa but is repulsed by a dark mark on her face. He descends into alcoholism and starts an affair with O-hana, a maid carrying another man’s child. Together, they conspire to poison Oiwa, killing her and disposing of her body in a moat. But Oiwa’s vengeful spirit rises from the depths, seeking revenge.

With most of his family already dead at Ogami Itto's hands, Retsudo launches one final plot to destroy him, and when that fails, unleashes the fury of every remaining member of the Yagyu clan.

Ogami Itto is challenged by a quintet of warriors, each armed with one fifth of Ogami's assassin fee and one fifth of the information he needs to complete his assignment.